Your Third is Your Own
by Sintari
Summary: There is a saying among Hyuga mothers – Your first child is lost to duty, and your second to despair, but your third is your own. Implied NejiHinata.


Title: Your Third is Your Own  
Author: Sintari  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
Rating: K

**Your Third is Your Own**

There is a saying among Hyuga mothers – "Your first child is lost to duty, and your second to despair, but your third is your own."

Inexplicably, these words kept running through Hanabi's mind as she and Hinata dressed Hinata's eldest for her wedding day. Why was she thinking of that old wives' saying? Hadn't she herself, Hyuga Hanabi, first female head of Hyuga in a hundred generations, proven them all wrong? Despair, indeed.

But when Hinata knelt to examine the hem of her daughter's wedding kimono, with the sunlight through the window highlighting the threads of gray in her hair, the words ran through Hanabi's mind again. Hitomi was certainly doing her duty, though Hanabi hardly thought her 'lost.' She didn't envy her niece's marriage to an aging widower, even though Hanabi herself had been the first to sign the marriage contract between the two families. With this alliance, two of the grandest old clans in the Fire Country would finally be united, at the price of Hitomi's maidenhood.

Truly, they all had to pay a price to Hyuga, one way or another.

"Your second to despair…" Hanabi had convinced herself that Hinata's second child, their father's namesake, was merely at a difficult age. He was waiting outside with the witnesses, and when Hanabi had entered the temple, young Hiashi had been the only person present who refused to bow. Of course she'd never let on that she noticed him, but then again, Hyuga never miss much, and those staring eyes under that angry green manji had followed her into the small side chamber where Hitomi was almost ready to wed. If Hanabi were being honest with herself, she'd admit that Hiashi had been at a difficult age for years now.

Hinata's third child, Natsumi, had clapped in delight when Hanabi entered the room. It was said that the girl had never met a stranger, though Hanabi suspected her good cheer and trusting nature came from the way Hinata doted on her. Natsumi had been a late in life baby, unexpected to say the least.

While Hinata fussed over the amount of rouge on Hitomi's cheeks, Natsumi had done what she knew would please her Auntie best, activating her fledgling Byakugan and affecting a fighting stance. Regarding her youngest niece, Hanabi suddenly recalled that the girl had barely even cried when she affixed the cursed seal to her forehead, and she had never seemed to hold the pain against her aunt.

Hanabi shook her head. It must be the wedding that was making her so sentimental today. Still, surprising herself, Hanabi reached out to catch the little one when she stumbled. She may have mastered all the clan's jutsu, but Hanabi still remembered what it was like the first hundred times you tried to look at the world three hundred and fifty-nine degrees around you. The small child allowed Hanabi to hold her for a moment, but then her arms were stretched out, reaching for her mother. Seeing this, Hinata's face lit up and she took the wriggling form, even though, in Hanabi's opinion, Natsumi was much too old to be carried around by her mother.

Hanabi had attended every Hyuga wedding since the day she was proclaimed leader. Like most, the ceremony was small, with only a handful of close friends and family from each side attending. The rest of Hyuga would be allowed to give Hitomi their well wishes at the banquet afterward. She'd seen this ceremony three dozen times, so Hanabi watched people instead. Hinata, holding the hand of her youngest, stood by her husband. Hanabi noted that his brown eyes, so like Hitomi's own, had grown teary at the sight of his daughter in her finery. Her sister's marriage had been one of the first Hanabi had arranged. She'd always regarded their three children as proof that she'd done well.

At the front of the temple, Hiashi stood at a respectful distance from the bride and groom, toying with his wide sleeves. It had been Hinata's idea to let him serve as one of the official witnesses.

"It will help him say goodbye to his sister," she had suggested mildly. Hinata had a way of doing that, talking you around to something and then making you believe you'd thought of it yourself. When they were younger, Hanabi had often asked her to come to the bargaining table and turn that simple charm on rival clans, but Hinata had demurred every time.

"_This_ is how I do my duty," she'd say, and then go back to changing one of Hitomi's diapers, or bending down to kiss Hiashi's scraped knee.

Hanabi turned her head discreetly during one of the more boring portions of the ceremony. Their cousin Neji was there, handsome as ever, forsaking his squad leader's uniform for a dark blue formal kimono.

Natsumi seemed to feel his eyes on her, because she turned, too, and opened and closed her small fists several times in her child's version of a wave. Neji flexed his fingers slightly in response. He may have been smiling. It was always so hard to tell with Neji.

"Your first child is lost to duty, and your second to despair, but your third…"

The ceremony had ended without Hanabi noticing. The new bride and groom led the way outside, the bride's parents and the groom's grown children following to make a procession. Hinata had to walk right by Neji, and Hanabi noted for the first time that he didn't look at her, or she at him, until little Natsumi had activated her strong Byakugan again and Neji bent and swooped her up in order to save her from a tumble.

…Her strong Byakugan.

Hanabi stopped abruptly beside Hinata, remarking in a low voice, "She has her father's eyes, doesn't she?"

Hinata merely watched as Neji sat the little girl gently back onto her feet. Just when Hanabi thought her sister wasn't going to acknowledge the remark, Hinata answered her softly, "Your third is your own."

**END**


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